Public health key challenge for a generation, says RCN

Published: 30 November 2010

For immediate release: Tuesday 30 November 2010

Public health key challenge for a generation, says RCN

Solving the nation’s public health crisis is the ‘key health challenge for a generation’, the Royal College of Nursing said today (30 November). Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, was speaking as he welcomed the Government’s White Paper on Public Health ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’. He said:

 “We welcome this Public Health White Paper as preventative care is vital in today’s NHS and the key health challenge for a generation. Preventing illness before it happens is central to the future wellbeing of the nation and reducing the financial burden on the NHS.

“Nursing staff play a fundamental role in preventing unhealthy lifestyles developing, for example they provide sex education in schools, advice on healthy eating, manage     smoking cessation clinics, and support the health of the working population. We have already welcomed the Government’s commitment to put clinicians at the heart of decision-making in the NHS and we look forward to ensuring that nursing staff are pivotal in delivering the Government’s Healthy Lives, Healthy People vision.

 “We welcome the commitment to ring-fence public health spending but we recognise that all public sector bodies are going through times of financial challenge. To ensure our public health service is fit for the future we must make sure that under a new system the money does not get swallowed up by other concerns – and we need more detail on this.”

Dr Carter continued:
“The challenge now is as great as conquering poor sanitation in the nineteenth century and eradicating killers of the past like smallpox. The prize of taking bold action now - better population health and decreasing the future burden on the NHS and associated spending - is well worth striving for. The RCN will be responding fully to the White Paper in due course.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.